On the Articles: Article XXVII

The Twelfth Sunday after Trinity

ALMIGHTY and everlasting God, who art always more ready to hear than we to pray, and art wont to give more than either we desire or deserve: Pour down upon us the abundance of thy mercy; forgiving us those things whereof our conscience is afraid, and giving us those good things which we are not worthy to ask, but through the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ, thy Son, our Lord. Amen.

XXVII. Of Baptism
BAPTISM is not only a sign of profession, and mark of difference, whereby Christian men are discerned from others that be not christened, but it is also a sign of Regeneration or new Birth, whereby, as by an instrument, they that receive Baptism rightly are grafted into the Church; the promises of forgiveness of sin, and of our adoption to be the sons of God by the Holy Ghost, are visibly signed and sealed; Faith is confirmed, and Grace increased by virtue of prayer unto God. The Baptism of young Children is in any wise to be retained in the Church, as most agreeable with the institution of Christ.

After addressing the general nature of the sacraments and their administration, the Articles highlight the importance placed on Holy Baptism by describing it next, before going on to elaborate on the Holy Eucharist. This Article’s formulation again shows its opposition to protestant doctrines adopted, somewhat ironically, by the Baptists which argued that Holy Baptism was merely symbolic and unnecessary to adoption in Christ, and that rather than acting through the Sacrament’s God simply works through an individual’s belief.

This Article affirms the traditional view held by the Patristic Church and maintained also in Eastern Orthodoxy and Roman Catholicism, as well as some protestant traditions to lesser and varying degrees, that God acts through Baptism. In addition to being a sign of membership into the Christian fellowship, “it is also a sign of Regeneration or new Birth.” It is interesting that on the heels of Article XXVI, this Article also specifies that this applies to those who “receive Baptism rightly.” By rightly, it refers to the use of water and receiving the Baptism in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit according to the formula provided by Christ in the Great Commission (St Mt 28. 19).

The Article continues to discuss important features of Baptism. The Article states that those who receive it, do so for, “the promises of forgiveness of sin, and of our adoption to be the sons of God by the Holy Ghost.” This makes explicit the meaning of the previous statement of what Regeneration and grafting into the Church means. In Baptism our sins are washed away. As St Paul puts it, our old selves are crucified with Christ, put to death, and we put on our new selves, adopted into Christ’s relationship with the Father.

The Article continues by mentioning the visible action of chrismation, being signed and sealed by the Spirit. This section conveys a two-fold meaning. First, much like earlier when it referred to the formula of the Great Commission, here it refers to another visible part of the ceremonial that occurs in Baptism: we are visibly signed by oil as a sign of the Spiritual sealing which occurs as we are sealed as Christ’s own forever. The second point made here relates to permanency. There are some sacraments, for instance the Holy Eucharist, which may be received repeatedly. Indeed, with the Eucharist and Reconciliation it is encouraged! Others, however, such as Holy Baptism, are permanent and only to be received once.

The Article concludes by addressing another controversy of the Reformation era, and one which continues today, that of infant Baptism. Many different Protestant denominations felt that infant Baptism was illegitimate, because of their altered conception of Baptism itself. Yet the Article here claims that nothing in the Gospels with Christ’s institution of Holy Baptism, nor indeed in the Acts of the Apostles where Baptism is first demonstrated or anywhere else in the New Testament where Baptism is sometimes referred to does it ever suggest that children are not to receive Baptism. In fact, some argue that the witness of the Apostles in the Acts of the Apostles includes infant Baptism when it makes reference to whole households, which would have included infants, as well as references to how every single person in a crowd comes forward to be Baptised after accepting the Gospel.

While this controversy is specifically mentioned in the Article, there are numerous other controversies surrounding Baptism. Whether or not, for instance, Baptism requires full immersion or if it is sufficient to have water poured or sprinkled on the candidate. While these matters aren’t addressed explicitly here, the previous phrase which refers to rightly receiving Baptism does suggest that the Article is recognizing that there are certain requirements which must be met for Baptism to be effective. These requirements, however, by the Anglican tradition, would be matters explicitly referred to in the Scriptures. As nature of the use of water in Baptism is not referred to, it would generally be considered acceptable simply to use water in some manner. The Didache notes that the preference is for full immersion but where that is not possible, for instance in the Early Church as they went further north the water became too cold for immersion Baptism during long parts of the year.

The majority of the controversies surrounding Baptism are of a similar nature, being ones that deal with form and manner of the Baptism. Those issues have been addressed throughout the history of the Church from the earliest ages of the Church. This Article omits them because they had already been resolved, and instead focuses only on those new controversies that had largely arisen as a result of the Protestant Reformation which had developed new understandings and doctrines of what Baptism itself meant.

In staying true to the received understanding of Baptism, the Article highlights the antiquity of Anglicanism’s sacramental theology.